Wapping's Wanders Six - Weekend of 22 / 23 October

I have just reconfirmed all our rooms with the hotel and that we will be eating in their restaurant.

Richard
 
I have near enough tidied-up the routes, building in some alternative ways of coming back, depending on the time.

I am away in Sweden Tuesday / Wednesday. I will finish it all off by Thursday evening and lob it up here.

Richard
 
Take it easy eating all that Smörgåsbord ...... :D :barf
 
Take it easy eating all that Smörgåsbord ...... :D :barf

I was, for a while, unable to eat salmon in any form, having had my fill of it.

Even though it's not salmon, I do (sometimes) blanch at Surströmming* unless fortified with copious amounts of aquavit. Either that or the perfume of the brokerage outweighed the stink of the risk.... so I tucked in with gusto.



*Which is what you are probably thinking of. Smörgåsbord is a very different kettle of fish and really quite innocent,

Fill yer boots, as they say: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Su...s=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a
 
Looks like your set for some decent weather :thumb2

I wish I could have got another jolly in before winter bites, but unemployment is still biting at my arse, hopefully the recession will end before the fuel runs out :nenau
 
Hello everyone.

All behind, like the donkey's tail I'm afraid.... Not helped by a day lost in Sweden and a drama at work (not life threatening) late afternoon, so a late arrival home this evening. Hey-ho.

As promised I have tidied up the routes and lobbed the Mapsource file onto DropBox for you to download.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14126843/October Somme jaunt.gdb

As you will see:

(a) There is a slower and a much faster way down. Both are similar mileages but the quicker one with a chunk of payage before St Pol. The slower one takes us down to the west, then south, missing out chunks of payage. I have included the faster one in case we (or anyone) has a problem at Calais.

(b) There are two stages to day two's ride. The first, round in a sort of clockwise half loop to the Australian memorial, just south of Corbie. The second, back up to Calais, via a choice: Faster or slower.

I have half an eye that the light is going (and it gets a bit chilly) but we should be OK.

The second day's ride is still 150 miles or so, plus we are going to stop at some WW1 sites. So we do need to start out at around 09:00 if we are not going to be chasing our tails too much.

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There is quite a few of us, so we will definitely use the drop-off 'marker' system.

Lunch we will have to have on the hoof somewhere.

Thinking about it - and thanks for the reminder KevB I think it WOULD be a good idea to bring a packed lunch on Saturday.

With a straight run - on the quickest option - we would be in Albert by 13:00 for sure. But one delay (or a biggish group) means we could well drop behind on the slower route, not least as we will stop for a coffee somewhere. I suggest we plan to bring a packed lunch. But, if we see somewhere to stop to eat in a cafe, we can stop. If we do, the sandwiches won't go off and we can scoff them on Sunday, instead. As we know when we came back from Ypres, cafes can suddenly vanish just when you want one.... and a bicycle race block a road.

I will PM you all my mobile no.

As Rasher (who had hoped to join us) says: The weather looks OK..... be prepared if it ain't.

http://www.accuweather.com/en-us/fr/picardie/albert/forecast.aspx

http://www.accuweather.com/en-us/fr/aquitaine/calais/forecast.aspx

We can guess that it will be chilly coming off the train, with maybe some frost on Saturday and Sunday morning judging by the overnight temperatures.

===============================================

I have cobbled together some guff on the bits we will see.

DAY ONE

Beaumont Hamel, the sunken road & Newfoundland Memorial Park

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/beaumont.html

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/newfoundland.html

DAY TWO

Thiepval & Ulster Tower

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/thiepval.html

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/ulstertower.html

Longueval & Caterpillar valley

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/longueval.html

Villers-Bretonneux, Australian National Memorial

http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/villers-bretonneux/

===============================================

As usual:

Full tank

See you at the train

First stop the fuel station on leaving the train, just to gather up

Paperwork, passport etc.

Cheers,

Richard
 
Thanks for Phone numbers guy's.

See you all in the morning.

Terry & Ang
 
Thanks to everyone for making the weekend a good 'un, I really enjoyed it.

Pictures follow soonest.

Richard
 
For anyone looking to stay in Albert, the hotel was fine, nice people and a good restaurant :thumb2 I'd stay there again, or drop in for lunch.

There is a good bar next door, too. Just to the left of the hotel as you face it.
 
Did you meet lots of sugar beet lorries ? Last time I was there the place was over-run with them :eek Took me weeks to get all that Somme mud out of my bike .....
 
Terry & ang reporting in home safe and sound.

Richard topman. Top weekend. Good company one and all.

Thank you
 
Richard,
Many thanks for another great weekend.Great riding great company,great little hotel and food.
Kev
 
Richard,

Thanks for organising.. a very enjoyable trip. Good company, good riding, good weather, what more can you ask for..

Cheers,
Rob :thumb
 
Danger! Men at work :eek:

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But then there was one......


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With a bright idea......


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Some snaps

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Albert itself had scrubbed up nicely. This was the area around the railway station (just down the road from our hotel) in 1918
800px-LT_34_-_La_Grande_Guerre_1914-1918_-_ALBERT_en_ruines_-_La_Gare_-_Vue_de_la_Sucrerie_-_The_Railway_Station.JPG
 


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